Ernesto de la Cruz
Although focused on gaining souls, the Friends aren't above spreading discord in other ways. Thus, the story of Ernesto de la Cruz. The friends were feeling petty one fine day a century ago and so decided to wreck a family's love of music and dance. They tempted the patriarch, Hector, into going on the road as a great performer. Giving him glory but ruining his family in the process. And he did, taking his best friend, Ernesto along. However, then Hector got homesick, and wanted to return. Unfortunately, the friends weren't interested in Hector backing out, and so the night before Hector left, they came to Ernesto with a deal: keep those songs by any means necessary, and we will make you the richest and most famous man in all of mexico. And so, Ernesto poisoned his best friend, and stole his guitar and music for himself. The Friends were surprisingly true to their word. Giving Ernesto decades of glory, fame, honor, success, film careers, albums. And indeed, Chernabog began to wonder whether this was too good a deal on their part. Ernesto also kept on killing behind anyone's backs. But then the friends learned of the Land of the Dead. A land slightly beyond the other side where those who are remembered as they truly were by the living reside. And that's when they decided to make inroads into this world. As such, at the height of his success, they triggered Ernesto's death by falling bell. Ernesto was horrified by this turn of events, claiming the friends tricked him, but Bill Cipher was in contact at the time and pointed out, "We offered you fame and glory. We didn't specify how long it would last." As such, they talked about his new life he'd have in the land of the dead, and asked for further influence in that land. Ways to enter it through negative beliefs, evil influences on those who were about to be truly forgotten, or disguising friends as spirit guides. They promised Ernesto a comfortable life there as long as he did their bidding. Ernesto, ever hungry to hold onto his glory, complied. And for 4 generations, the friends slowly and sneakily corrupted various parts of the Land of the Dead. Causing memory loss, souls to be harvested by them, and generally eating away at its foundations, looking for a way to wage direct war on this land one day. Another use for him was to try and discover other Afterlives in the multiverse, and harvest them. But then, one day of the dead, a small misfortune happened. Miguel Rivera, the last musician of the house Rivera, stole his family's guitar from Ernesto's shrine, and in doing so, allowed the High Council to bring him into that realm to redeem his family. In the process, Hector discovered the truth about his death, and thanks to the help of the family, soon the whole land of the dead did as well. In the end, Ernesto was disgraced, and abruptly trapped at the hands of a spirit bell. Notes * Ernesto's Non-Disney counterpart is Lord Raptor from Darkstalkers. Category:Humans Category:Spirits Category:Villains Category:Clients Category:Deceased Characters